St. John's Tide at Midsummer
This week of the anthroposophical calendar we gaze out at nature's splendor. Its radiant beauty touches our hearts, strengthening our will to join in its glory. We feel drawn to the flowering plants and newborn animals, finding in them a profound sense of grace and perfection.
Now is the time to allow higher forces to think, feel and will through us. To do so, we must align our ego and will with the wider impulses of the universe. In this "World-light and World-warmth", we no longer feel alone; we feel at one with the beauty that surrounds us.
St. John's Tide is celebrated shortly after Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. Rather than being swept up in Luciferic external forces of nature, our task is to kindle the fire within our own hearts to radiate this natural splendor out into the world. We forego the lower aspects of ourselves in favor of the Higher Self that is in harmony with nature. Then, we begin our six month progression toward Christmas and Winter solstice, the longest night of the year. We must then carry these Divine cosmic forces into the darkness as a seed which will then germinate again to carry us further in our spiritual development.
Practice the Calendar verses to entrain with the rhythms of the seasons. Together, we will radiate these forces out into society through our moral words and deeds of brotherly love. Rudolf Steiner's verses for the 52 weeks of the calendar are here on our website, together with Rudolf Steiner's original German text and several other translations: Rudolf Steiner, The Anthroposophical Calendar.